PHOSPHATE MINING OFFICIALS-POOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDS

Over the past seventy years, Florida’s phosphate industry let many man-made severe environmental accidents occur one after another over the years, causing serious environmental impacts to pristine “one of a kind” ecological regions of Florida. The Florida taxpayers are also paying for the court costs, attorney fees, and the like while the court battles continue daily between federal and state environmental agencies versus Florida’s industry officials.

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(Fig. 1) Lithia Springs- Spring Opening

PEACE RIVER VALLEY

The Peace River watershed lies in west central Florida about forty miles east of the Tampa Bay area. Florida’s Peace River was declared an “endangered river” by “American Rivers.org,” a non-profit organization committed to protecting and restoring North American rivers.

The central Florida region holds unique pristine watersheds, marshlands, bogs, and other freshwater naturally occurring filtering systems. Watersheds are areas of land with waterways that flow to a common destination. Most of the region's drinking water is pumped from aquifers that are “recharged” from the watersheds described above. READ MORE HERE(Fig. 3) Peace River Spring Fed Tributary

The state of Florida owns all riparian lands and navigable waterways held in “trust” for the public at large by the sovereignty granted to Florida at statehood in 1845 by the United States of America. The lands under “public” navigable waterways are defined as riparian in nature and not to be altered in any way without state consent. Additionally, anyone purchasing land holding such natural waterways must use the land so as “not to interfere with the public’s right to use the waterway over the land” (i.e., river bottom) in question and must recognize common law riparian rights when ones actions affect the land. An example of altering the bottom of a waterway may be strip mining, dredging, building a pier, or boat dock.

What are riparian land rights you may ask? Riparian rights are those given to lands incident to navigable waterways (3). For example, the land tracts owned by the phosphate industry adjacent to or containing waterways holding riparian “public” lands from the low water mark to the high water mark in the waterway and cannot be privately owned, blocked, or altered. These lands are held in trust by the state of Florida as public domain since 1845 and is based on Florida's Public Trust Doctrine.

Florida Phosphate Officials Disrespect Public Trust

However, phosphate industry officials direct operations to strip mine large tracts of land including riparian lands and navigable waterways for the phosphate 30 to 50 feet beneath the landscape. Some of the lands being strip mined by Florida’s phosphate industry are riparian lands. Some of the waterways the phosphate industry alters are navigable waterways. Both instances (2) are highly controversial and may be illegal in some circumstances based on the U.S. Constitution and Florida laws as well. However, changing riparian lands or navigable waterways to better “public uses” may be allowed and is encouraged by the state.

In another example, a large tract of land called the Altman Tract is owned by the phosphate industry and contains navigable waterways with riparian lands. The phosphate industry cannot alter the waterway or the land under the waterway in a way that interferes with downstream riparian lands rights and downstream waterway users. However, the phosphate industry is entirely removing waterways from the surface of the earth while stripping riparian lands as well. Why are Florida’s elected officials and public media silent concerning the above industry practices? Producing “public awareness” on this topic is almost unheard by most of Florida’s taxpayers, says the Florida Institute for Phosphate Research, FIPR. Is the Public to believe this fact is coincidental?

In the last example, upstream waterway users cannot interfere with the natural characteristics of the navigable waterway that adversely affects downstream users. Riparian lands and navigable waterways are granted to the public by the state of Florida as public domain and may be used by anyone for travel, commerce, leisure, and the like. However, when state politics are used to rewrite history related to Florida’s lands being “public domain” or sovereign based on statehood, then all state laws may be subjugate and seemingly encouraged by Florida’s elected officials.

Riparian Lands and Navigable Waterways

Unfortunately, Florida’s phosphate industry purchases large tracts of land holding “public” navigable waterways and riparian lands to strip mine for phosphate. These large tracts of land are located in west central Florida, home to many environmentally challenged critical riparian lands and public waterways providing safe drinking water to millions of people year after year. Most of central Florida’s drinking water is produced by regional watersheds.

What are navigable waterways you may ask? Navigable waterways are defined as water bodies offering possible benefits for “public uses” (2). Navigable waterways are not limited by the ability to navigate a vessel on the waterway. Public uses cover a broad range of possibilities, including drinking water, leisure, commerce, travel, and the like.

Large land tracts which contain riparian land and navigable waterways in the central Florida watersheds are owned by the state since the time of statehood in 1845. The problem occurs when the state’s elected officials “permit” (1) mining in large tracts of land in central Florida’s watersheds to the phosphate industry knowing the industry draglines will strip everything including “public rights” from the earth’s surface until it finds phosphate.

Florida Elected Officials Don't Deserve Public Trust

State officials also know that strip mining in the regional watersheds historically degrades drinking water quality and quantity and will from now on, says the Department of Environmental Protection. State officials know the severe environmental impacts caused by the phosphate industry but continue to “permit” strip mining in state riparian lands and navigable waterways critical for millions of Florida taxpayer’s safe public drinking water resources.

Let your elected officials know how you feel on the subject of phosphate strip mining degrading Florida’s drinking water.

DISAPEARING WATERSHEDS

Central Florida's groundwater and aquifers are becoming extinct by watershed destruction via phosphate strip mining operations. Florida's natural watersheds, known to the Florida phosphate mining industry as phosphate overburden, are being destroyed for the beginnings of a phosphate strip mine. Where is the balance between Florida politics, industry, and the Public?

WHAT IS AN AQUIFER

An aquifer is contained in the sub-surface encased in a body of saturated rock which also contain caverns and watersheds.

In this case the rock is limestone based, through which water can easily be contained and also move as though it is in a sub-surface river.

Aquifers must be both permeable and porous and include such rock types as sandstone, conglomerate, fractured limestone and unconsolidated sand and gravel. This type of earthen material contains enough drinking water for millions of Florida's citizens year after year.

Central Florida is made of just such a rock landscape and truley does contain everyone's fresh water resources.

However, phosphate officials are "permitted" by the state of Florida to remove everything mentioned above "containing" everyone's freshwater resources in very large tracts of land, measured in square miles, to reach the valuable phosphate rock they seek.